Pastor Apollo Quiboloy said he would not be caught alive and would “die with honor and stand for the oppressed, those deprived of justice, and those deprived of fairness in the country” in an emotional audio address to his supporters aired over YouTube.
Breaking down toward the end of the recording, Quiboloy made his statement days after the National Bureau of Investigation and the police initiated a search to serve two arrest warrants issued by a Davao regional court against him and five of his associates in connection with child abuse and sexual abuse cases.
Among the suspects, the Kingdom of Jesus Christ (KOJC) founder remains the only one at large and is now considered a “fugitive”.
“I am not hiding from this case because I am guilty. No. I am avoiding (arrest) because I am protecting myself,” Quiboloy said in Filipino to his followers in the Davao-based religious group.
The televangelist alleged that the United States authorities intended to kidnap or kill him rather than extradite him for trial in an
American court, without specifying why the US would want him dead.
He also claimed that President Marcos Jr. had agreed to hand him over to the Americans, suggesting that recent actions by the Senate and the House of Representatives against him and his group were part of the alleged US strategy.
Senator Ronald dela Rosa on Saturday advised Quiboloy – a close friend of the lawmaker’s erstwhile boss, former President Rodrigo Duterte”—to “face the music” and surrender to authorities.
“I have no other advice except to face his cases and let the wheels of justice turn. We have justice. Hopefully, he faces this so that this mess can be resolved,” said dela Rosa, the former Davao and Philippine National Police chief, in a radio interview.
According to dela Rosa, he was unable to talk to Quiboloy, but warned the preacher that he could not evade the law any longer considering his active warrant.
Wanted in the US, Quiboloy has been placed on the US Federal Bureau of Investigation’s list of most wanted after he and several of his associates were indicted by a federal grand jury in a California district court in 2021 for a series of cases, including sex trafficking, fraud and coercion, misuse of visas, bulk cash smuggling, and money laundering.
The self-proclaimed “Appointed Son of God” said his decision not to surrender was “wisdom from God” aimed at protecting himself.
In response to Quiboloy’s accusations, Mr. Marcos laughed off the alleged assassination plot against him in late February.
